Improvement in toy money-boxes



'UNITED STATES PATENT FFIcn THOMAS A. TAYLOR, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO GEORGE M. WHIPPLE AND A. AUGUSTUS SMITH, OF SAME' PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOY MONEY-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 140,798, dated July 15, 1873; application filed April 24, 1873.

l miliar with its peculiarities will be unable to unlock it except upon considerable time and study being spent in the attempt., The invention consists in the employment of two plates laid face to face, and sliding one upon another, a pocket being created in the inner face of one plate to receiveadisk or block which lls it, or practically so, while a sloping notch or depression is formed in the adjacent face ofthe opposite plate or slide, which coincides with the pocket before named, the arrangement of the whole being such that when one plate is uppermost the two are locked together by the disk which remains in a sloping position between the two plates, and with one edge in the pocket and one in the sloping notch, while upon reversing the position of the plate or inverting them, so that what was,

under the last-described condition, the upper' one, becomes the under one, and the disk drops into the cell of the latter and out of thesloping notch, thus freeing the two plates and allowing them to slide upon one another and open an aperture between them, which, at oth er times, is closed by the outermost plate.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, an edge view of a `box containing my improvements, with the catch or fastening open; and Fig. 2, a longitudinal section ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a face view ofthe inner side of the back of the box, while Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sections of the same.

ln these drawings, A represents a rectangular box or case, made of thin wood, and fashioned into the form of a book, which it is designed to imitate, a narrow slot, c, being created in its front edge, through which money or valuables may be pushed into the interior,

the box as herein shown being intended as a .lOank7 or receptacle for money. The back of the box or imitation-book A is composed of two plates, B and C, which are laid flatwise together, and united by a dovetailed stud or tenon, b, of the outermost plate B, which enters a correspondingly-thrilled slot, c, made in the inner plate C, this union of the plates allowing them to slide upon one another, and the slot being of such length that the said plates may separate to the extent of an inch or thereabout. A small portion, d, of one end of the outer plate B is severed from the remainder e, and is secured to the inner plate C in order that a space may exist at certain times between the two portions d and e, to allow money or other articles to be removed from the interior of the bank or box when it becomes desirable so to do. v

\ It is not necessary that the plate B should be in two pieces, as it may be entire and slide bodily upon the inner one; but in this case the opening for abstraction of contents ofthe box would be at the extreme end of the back, which would not be desirable.

l) in the drawings represents a circular cell or pocket, created inthe inner face of the outer plate or back B, a circular disk or block, j', being deposited in this cell, and filling the same flush with the face of the plate. E in the drawings denotes a notch or depression created in the outer face ofthe inner plate C, this notch, when the two plates are closed, being coincident with the pocket D, the said notch being at its deepest end preferably of a depth equal to or greater than that of the disk, which at times drops into it. I prefer to produce in that end of the plate next adjacent to the portion d, and a slot or aperture, It, is made through the inner plate C, and extending from the abutment d to the inner boundaryof the notch E, or somewhat beyond the same, as shown in Fig. 1 of theV accompanying drawings, this aperture being sufficiently large to permit the contents of the box to be removed through it.

Under the above described arrangement of parts the disk f will ordinarily remain in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, as the counterfeit book will be upon its side, or back uppermost, and in this position the disk remains in an oblique position, with one edge disposed in the cell D, and the opposite edge The pocket D in the deepest portion of the notch vE, thus locking the two plates together, and defying ordinary scrutiny to detect any means of opening the box or bank.

Upon reversing the position of the box, or holding it back downward, the disk f drops from ont the notch E and entirely into the cell D, and allows the outer plate B to be 4 moved longitudinally upon the inner plate C,

and the aperture h to be opened and access had to the contents of such box.

A box provided with my catch or fastening above explained will be found a valuable depository for valuables, as it may be fashioned in imitation of a book and placed in a bookcase, in which locality no suspicion would be Witnesses:

F. CURTIS, W. E. BOARDMAN. 

